Hmmmmm . . . . I have no idea. I also do not think that it is fair to compair Bach to Shore or Beethoven to Schoenberg because of the completely different styles. So, I think I will list my favorite for each era or genre of classical music.
Pre-Baroque: William Byrd
Baroque: either Bach or Handel (I really have a hard time deciding)
Classical: Beethoven
Romantic: Grieg or Rachmaninoff (I might have thrown Tchaikovsky in there too - this is another impossible choice)
Impressionist: Debussy (Ravel)
American/Contemporary: Barber, Berstein, or Copland (probably Barber overall and this is probably the most diffucult to chose because I am such a huge fan of the classical American composers)
Modern: Prokofiev (just about the only one of this era that I really like)
Film score: Howard Shore, Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, or Thomas Newman (I am Shore's #1 fan so yes it is Shore as my favorite, but I just had to mention that I loved the others too)
Opera: Without a doubt it is Puccini (as far as the music goes Tourandot is the best opera ever)
Overall top 5 of all genres (probably?):
- Debussy
- Barber
- Shore
- Rachmaninoff
- Grieg
(Berstein and Ravel
)